July 11, 2021, continues to issue a call to action for Cubans on and off the island | Opinion

On July 11, we commemorated the first anniversary of a heroic day of protests that stand out in the history of the struggle for freedom in Cuba.

The myriad commemorative activities carried out in Miami and in Cuban-exile communities around the world saluted the popular resistance, which has continued after that day.

In Cuba, July 11 marked a transformation of the civic struggle for democracy, the leap made from the qualitative to the quantitative. It is evidenced by the wave of signs against the Castro regime that continue to appear throughout the country, signs whose prominence testifies to the silent decision in several neighborhoods to protect those who paint them; and by the spontaneous protests punctuated with cries of “Freedom!” at rock concerts or the University of Camagüey; and by the brave defiance that political prisoners still maintain behind bars.

The people have sought, and will continue to seek, the moments and ways to fight for their dignity.

From Miami, how do we support this internal call to paralyze the Cuban regime?

First, with constant support for political prisoners, their families and activists. With love and perseverance, many organizations in exile are dedicated to this task. We must concentrate the political and economic power of exile on interrupting the flow of money from abroad that finances the repression against the Cuban people.

That money comes, embarrassingly, from Western democratic countries, from Canada and the European Union, from Spain, France and Italy. For example, between 2019 and 2022 alone, the Paris Club has provided the communist dictatorship with more than $200 million in resources. In that same period of time, the Cooperation Agreement with the European Union has provided 63 million euros to this disgraceful regime.

These are the resources with which the Castro tyranny operates. These resources are not used to build hospitals or schools, to fix roads or increase workers’ wages, they benefit the Castro family and the military clique that is its instrument. Ultimately these resources finance repression.

Second, the United States must make a determined effort to work with these allied countries to correct this unacceptable reality. It is inconceivable and contradictory that, while Russia is being sanctioned, resources are being injected into Vladimir Putin’s main ally in the Western Hemisphere.

Third, we must work from now on to clearly outline the steps to be taken in a democratic transition whose main objective is to return sovereignty to the Cuban citizen. A government cannot be sovereign when the people are not. Cuban patriots inside and outside the island already are working on these studies, based on the framework of the Agreement for Democracy, ratified in Miami in 1998 by pro-democracy organizations in Cuba and Miami.

From inside and outside the island, the Cuban nation must consider what are the specific steps to recover freedom and establish the rule of law.

July 11, 2021, marked the beginning of the insurgency of a people for their freedom. This uprising was not a question of a single day, but of all the days of struggle that are necessary to save Cuba.

Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat is the coordinator of the Cuban Resistance Assembly in Miami.